Asking for help with Pedigree Questions and others - Page 1

Pedigree Database

Premium classified

This is a placeholder text
Group text

Premium classified

This is a placeholder text
Group text

Premium classified

This is a placeholder text
Group text

Premium classified

This is a placeholder text
Group text

by dfearday on 24 November 2020 - 12:11

Hello,

I hope someone can help me, and thanks in advance for any help given.

I am trying to find out more about my dogs pedigree to understand more of her lineage and also for potential breeding (finding a Stud - we are planning it but still have a lot of questions before doing anything). Her name is Rocksy Fearday Von Bergstrum. She is a Sable German Shepherd, just a little over 2 years old. Fantastic dog, and lives up to the German Shepherd heritage. She is really my 11 year old son's dog and he is an animal lover (one of our barn cats was having babies and he helped save one of them during labor). So I know he will do great with Rocksy if she has a litter (with some coaching). We got her from a local family that bred their 2 dogs and they were not "professional" breeders. I have been trying to research, but it is difficult and do not know the names in her lines makes it difficult. I cannot tell if she is East German, DDR, Czech, or a mix. We have horses and I know that looking at a horse pedigree you can see what stock the horse is from and then get "an idea" of how the horse will be. And I understand that is just a probability, just like dogs. So, if you have time could you try to answer some or all of these?

1. Rocksy's Pedigree is on here (put it here myself). Could you look at the pedigree and see if you can make out her general heritage (DDR, East German, etc) and what you would expect her to be like (I know what she is like, just want to know if she is following the rules...)? I looked at some examples and she might be more East German??? Her back does not slope as much as some of the other lines.

2. After seeing her pedigree, what would you suggest looking for in a stud dog? I mean lines that would work well with her. She is an excellent trail dog, she keeps right by us and if she does chase something she can be called back easily. She will run beside the horses from front to back constantly like she is counting and making sure all of us are still with her. We live in east central Illinois, and will be trying to find a stud fairly close.

3. She is a sable, and a beautiful one. We have talked about trying to get a little more brown on her. I know that you don't get to choose the colors of the pups, but we also know that certain color mixes can GENERALLY give an idea of what the pups will look like. Any suggestion on what we should look for?

4. I am researching the testing we need to do. We haven't done any bone or hip testing or certification yet (and I don't think her parents had the testing done either), but after I understand it better we expect to do the testing. That is of course if it would be worth it. I can face it - if her lines are not that great, then it might not be worth the extra cost. As a side note, we picked a good dog from great people - even if they didn't do all of the normal testing). So, In your opinion, it is worth it to get all of the tests done? If so, what would you recommend (remember I am still researching)?

5. If there is anyone out there with a stud dog that would be a good fit with Rocksy, please contact me!

6. Lastly - we are feeding her IAMs dog food, and I would like to put a little more weight on her, any suggestion? As I would expect with any Shepherd, Rocksy is very active so she does a great job of burning her calories.

I know I am asking a lot of questions, and most of you have probably come by your knowledge by research and a of of experience, so thanks again for any information you can help me with. I am going to try to post some pictures of Rocksy. Of course they are not pictures we had her pose for, she doesn't do photo shoots well. They were just opportunity shots.


Sunsilver

by Sunsilver on 24 November 2020 - 12:11

[sigh] Okay, hate to be the bearer of bad news - your dog is what breeders would call a pet German shepherd. Her heritage is a grab-bag of just about all the different GSD lines: American show line, German show line, West German working line, Czech working line and if you go back far enough, some DDR (East German) dogs.

You have to go back 4 generations to find even one dog that's been titled and hip-tested. The reason this is important is genetic factors have a lot to do with how good a dog's hips are, and what genes it can pass on. Your dog may x-ray as having good hips, but if there are parents or grand-parents with bad hips, she still can produce puppies that have problems.

Secondly - titles. The German shepherd is supposed to be a working breed. In Germany, you dog must have at least a Sch1 before it can be allowed to breed. Since none of the dogs in the last 4 generations of your dog's pedigree have been titled, you have no idea if she still has the genes for working ability. Also, there are quite a few American show line dogs in her ancestry, and these dogs are essentially bred for looks only, and taught to trot around the ring looking pretty. Very, very few even have the most basic obedience titles.

So, you may have a very nice dog with a good temperament, but she is not a dog that really should be bred. You will just be producing more pets.

Hundmutter

by Hundmutter on 24 November 2020 - 12:11

Welcome to PDB. We like to help. However, first things first: if you want us to look at Rocksy's pedigree and discuss lineage etc, we need to be able to access it ! Can you please post her full registered name; even if you don't yet understand how to make a link here, we can call it up, but we must have more than "Rocksy". TY.

There are Articles here which can help you with issues like hip x rays and their importance: bottom button, left hand col. of this page for a wealth of info. And yes, it is always worth getting at least basic hip & elbow tests done; and preferably Haemophilia A and DM as well - for reasons that will become clear as you learn more about the breed.

Don't really understand what you mean "trying to get a little more brown on her" - do you mean choose a mate which might help produce pups with more tan in the sable, or black & tan pups ? Or do you mean see a change in the colour of your girl - 'cos that ain't going to happen now she is two ! Not that you could have done anything but wait & watch when she was younger. [We can to an extent decide the colour of PUPS, if you pick a dog that isn't carrying or expressing sable, and put it to a female not sable or carrying sable, then you will not get any sables ... but as you are starting out with a sable bitch, some percentage of her puppies will almost always be sables, whichever colour dogs you put her to.]

You really should find out much more about what you are doing, and what you already have, before you decide to breed your bitch. Or find a suitable stud. The first question a lot of members here will ask is "Why do you think your bitch is good enough to breed from ?" It isn't as though there is really any shortage of GSD pups in this world; and an awful lot end up on Rescue because they have not been bred WELL, and they have problems with health, temperament, construction etc which lead to there being no market for them, or for them to go to people who cannot cope with them. Needs VERY serious consideration.

 

SUNSILVER How did you get this pedigree up without the name ? - and all while I was typing !  :D  :D  :D ...  Oh ! Did you go through the Username page ? Eee, why didn't I think of that !


mrdarcy (admin)

by mrdarcy on 24 November 2020 - 13:11

Hundmutter the OP posted the dogs full name and is listed here, not like you to miss that, lol,lol.

http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/german_shepherd_dog/dog.html?id=3032522-rocksy-fearday-von-bergstrom


Hundmutter

by Hundmutter on 24 November 2020 - 13:11

OOOpps ! Completely missed that, I was so intent on reading the rest of the content of the poster's questions !!! Sorry guys.

Sunsilver

by Sunsilver on 24 November 2020 - 13:11

Hundmutter, think you need another cup of coffee! LOL!

by Nans gsd on 24 November 2020 - 14:11

If this is the pedigree we are talking about this bitch should not be bred.

Fantom76 (admin)

by Fantom76 on 24 November 2020 - 15:11

I agree with Sunsilver. while she may make a good/great pet,
because of the reasons that sunsilver listed, I would not breed this dog. just because she is registered is not a valid reason for breeding. I would suggest getting her spayed and finding a working dog club near you and learn from them.

Hundmutter

by Hundmutter on 25 November 2020 - 03:11

Excellent advice. Sorry OP, it just IS.

Welcome back Fantom, hope you are feeling better.

Fantom76 (admin)

by Fantom76 on 25 November 2020 - 16:11

Thanks Hundmutter.Still in Rehab. Over Covid, well I understand that it really lasts for months, so still some to go. Now working on fixing my knee so that I can walk. I only sign in every couple days so please be patient if you send me any questions.





 


Contact information  Disclaimer  Privacy Statement  Copyright Information  Terms of Service  Cookie policy  ↑ Back to top